It’s official: Jay-Z is a daddy-to-be. The larger-than-life rapper couldn’t have appeared more thrilled about the news, which wife Beyonce broke with a one-two punch of baby-bump Video Music Award stunts — one on the red carpet (who was best dressed at the VMAs, anyway?), and one onstage after her dazzling performance of “Love On Top”. Watch Jay-Z’s adorable reaction to Beyonce’s big moment, read telling lyrics on how Hova feels about fatherhood, and learn more about his night at the 2011 MTV VMAs below.
So what kind of father will Jigga make? We’re betting on greatness. Based on the disarmingly candid hopes and fears described in his lyrics on “New Day,” a stand-out, moody and track off his Kanye West collaboration project Watch the Throne, it seems the hip-hop heavyweight is humble and hopeful about his ability to give his unborn child a good life (and he’s betting hard on a son, isn’t he?).

Sorry junior, I already ruined ya
‘Cause you ain’t even alive, paparazzi pursuin’ ya
Sins of a father make yo’ life ten times harder
I just wanna take ya to a barber
Bondin’ on charters, all the shit that I never did
Teach ya good values, so you cherish it
Took me 26 years to find my path
My only job is cuttin’ the time in half
So at 13 we’ll have our first drink together
Black bar mitzvahs, mazel tov, mogul talk
Look a man dead in his eyes
So he know you talk truth when you speak it, give your word, keep it
And if the day comes I only see him on the weekend
I just pray we was in love on the night that we conceived him
Promise to never leave him even if his mama tweakin’
Cause my dad left me and I promise never repeat him
Never repeat him, never repeat him

While Bey undoubtedly delivered the biggest story of the night, Jay-Z and Kanye gave perhaps the best performance of the evening with a noticeably enthusiastic, VMAs-ready rendition of “Otis” — an unannounced treat for the audience that included pyrotechnics. And in a move reminiscent of Lil Mama’s 2009 VMAs faux pas, an unidentified person tried to crash in on Mr. Carter’s stage. Luckily, the attempt was both brief and futile.